Conservative or Liberal, Deist or Pagan, Jersey transplant or Lehigh Valley native, we're all in this mess together. Let's talk. Let us do no harm. Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Time For a New NorCo Jail ...and in Nazareth

Northampton County's jail was first built in 1871 for $200,000. It's been expanded a few times since then, with the most recent addition coming in 2006 at a $22.8 million cost. But in the old jail in particular, things are a mess. Corrections Director Dan Keen just ticked off a few items at a recent Council meeting, but is expected to give a full report to Council tonight. A Morning Call story that was actually published in advance of the presentation, is an indication that Executive John Brown and Dan Keen are pushing for some big changes.

A new jail is needed. It was needed twenty years ago. But it will be expensive, especially if built on the postage stamp campus in Easton.

It makes most sense in Nazareth, where the County already owns the land. It will be cheaper, and the people who work there will get out from under Sal Panto's onerous commuter tax. There is one isolated area north of Gracedale, almost quarry like, that is already used by police for training. No housing development is nearby. That would be the ideal spot, but would need infrastructure.

It will be unpopular in the Nazareth community. Every few years, "No Jail" signs sprout like dandelions. But Nazareth Borough residents have already demonstrated they're happy with an admitted thief as Mayor. Council member Larry Stoudt works at a club that was and still may be loaded with illegal poker machines. So I'd just tell Nazareth complainers that those inmates are all Mayors in training.

3:47 troll, Why would you build something very expensive there when it can be done cheaper elsewhere? If the county gets it out of Easton, that frees up all kinds of room for other departments. However, if the cost of transporting inmates back and forth becomes prohibitive, I could see staying in Easton.

This has to be done, but i wonder whether the political will exists. Reassessment needs to take place, too.

Why? I think that would be an irrelevant consideration. I think the county should be guided by cost, and not just the cost of construction, but operational costs thereafter. If things would run more smoothly by keeping inmates in Easton, the additional construction cost might make it worth it. But if Nazareth is cheaper, that's where it should go. In fact, all county operations should be gradually shifted there. It is the geographic center of the county.

The notion of sticking the jail in a crime-plagued neighborhood as some form of punishment is un-American. Most of the people in any crime-infested neighborhood are law-abiding citizens, and you want to deprive them of an opportunity to make their lives better. It is a mean-spirited suggestion.

I'd like to see most county functions removed from Easton because its campus is too small and county employees are being shackled with an onerous commuter tax.

I know it would be unpopular in Nazareth, and has been bitterly opposed in the past. But Nazareth, with a crooked Mayor and a Council that helps fund the gambling operrations at the Legion, has no moral high ground.

The previous poster is absolutely right. The next thing you know, those greedy out-of-towners who work at McDonald's on 3rd Street will pack up and leave. It's time to stop hating on the greatest city on planet Earth.

Bernie, I'm maybe breaking my embargo of this bottom feeding blog to note the broad support shown here for prison expansion in Easton. I'm making Easton great again. I'll build a prison and make Nazareth pay for it.